Band-Aid is a brand of adhesive bandages distributed by the consumer health company Kenvue, spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023.^[3] Invented in 1920, the brand has become a generic term for adhesive bandages in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, the Philippines, and others.

The Band-Aid was invented in 1920 by a Johnson & Johnson employee, Earle Dickson, in Highland Park, New Jersey,^[4] for his wife Josephine, who frequently cut and burned herself while cooking.^[5] The prototype allowed her to dress her wounds without assistance. Dickson passed the idea on to his employer, which went on to produce and market the product as the Band-Aid. Dickson had a successful career at Johnson & Johnson, rising to vice president before his retirement in 1957.

The original Band-Aids were handmade and not very popular. By 1924, Johnson & Johnson introduced machine-made Band-Aids and began the sale of sterilized Band-Aids in 1939.^[6]

In World War II, millions were shipped overseas, helping popularize the product. Since then, Johnson & Johnson has estimated a sale of over 100 billion Band-Aids worldwide.^[7]

In 1951, the first decorative Band-Aids were introduced. They continue to be a commercial success, with such themes as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Superman, Spider-Man, Rocket Power, Rugrats, smiley faces, Barbie, Dora the Explorer, Elmo, and Batman.

In 2022, Band-Aid was named the most trusted brand in the United States, beating the second place brand, Lysol, by more than two points.^[8]

Band-Aid has, over time, become a well-known example of a genericized trademark in the United States, Canada and South America,^[9] but Johnson & Johnson has registered Band-Aid as a trademark on the Principal Register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the registration is valid and legal.^[10] Johnson & Johnson continues to defend the Band-Aid trademark against it being genericized.^[11]

• Elastoplast, a comparable European brand and genericized trademark